Unfortunately, the biblical concept of love has been skewed and redefined in our modern era. When words are redefined, they lose their convicting power as they begin to convey different ideas and thoughts in the mind of a believer. Definitions are important. Language is important. It is through this avenue that the writers of Scripture sought to communicate the very words of God that lead to life.
If someone believes that justification is a one-time act that brings a believer into a position before God in which he is not guilty and is legally declared righteous, this person believes a proper definition. However, if you take the same word, justification, and define it as a process rather than a one-time act, whereby a person is made righteous over time and placed in proper standing before God over time, you end up with the Catholic church’s definition. This is one of the dividing lines between Protestant Christianity and Catholicism.
Many more examples such as these exist. The Protestant Church, Catholicism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Mormonism use a lot of the same words but define them differently. Therefore, simply because a particular word is being used, this does not mean the same information is being conveyed.
This brings us to the challenge that the church is facing in bringing the human race back to a biblical understanding of what love is.
The redefining of love
To start, it is important to know the imposter. The imposter is this: the idea that love is based on some type of feeling or emotion. The thought is that love comes and love goes. Love is here today and gone tomorrow. If someone does not feel like loving another, the thought is that he needs to be brought to a point of feeling like he loves another in order to actually do so.
This may seem like a minor matter, but the implications run deep. Feelings and emotions are very strong, but they are not meant to govern the life of the believer. Even the structure of the brain would attest to such a thing. The frontal cortex is what is used to make proper decisions, and it is a relatively massive part of the brain compared to the amygdala. The amygdala is a very small portion of the brain, and it is responsible for the emotions that a person has. Nevertheless, this very small portion of the brain is often allowed to overpower the much larger portion (the decision-making portion).
What is love?
Biblical love is expressed in four different words in the original Greek language. Two are of primary importance in this article. The first word is phileo. This love actually does convey emotion, so it is not as though the Bible is opposed to there being some kind of emotional involvement in the loving of another. However, another word is also present in the Scriptures. This word is agapao. Agapao is much different than phileo love and speaks of an unconditional love that a person shows another whether he “feels” like it or not.
Agapao love in the Scriptures
John was not shy in expressing his deep concern for the believer to show love one to another. It is even recorded outside of Scripture that as John was reaching the end of his life, he was helped into a room in which he would speak to others. As he was brought in, he told them in short that if they were to love one another, they would be doing everything that God had called them to. But just how concerned was John with convicting the heart of believers to love God and love one another?
The book of 1 John was written by John to churches in Asia Minor where he was led by the Lord to minister during his later years. It is thought that his home base was in Ephesus, and it was from this city that he reached out to the other churches that he listed in the book of Revelation. During this time, a heretical movement was seeping into the church, and the false teachers were puffed up with pride because of the knowledge they thought they had. Therefore, John felt the need to tell his sheep time and time again what true Christianity looks like. In this, he zeroed in on one of the most important elements of the Christian’s walk with Christ – love.
In the book of 1 John, John uses the word “love” 33 times, “loved” 4 times, and “loveth” 9 times. In other words, John uses the word love 46 times in one relatively small book of the Bible in an attempt to highlight with great significance the importance of loving God and loving our neighbor. But the question arises: out of these 46 times, how many times did John use the word phileo to describe the love that must be shown toward God and man? The answer is none. The question also arises: how many times did John use the word agapao? The answer is that in all of the 46 times in the book of 1 John in which the word love is used, John used the word agape or agapao. In this, what can be seen is John’s telling the believer that he must choose to love others and do what is best for them whether he “feels” like it or not.
Application
When John speaks of love in the book of 1 John, it is what is sometimes referred to as a hard teaching. It is because John speaks in a very black-and-white type of manner. John tells us that love must exist in the life of a believer. It is an evidence of salvation. He even goes on to say that if someone does not love, he does not know God. This is a tall order. Nevertheless, Christ has died that man would be forgiven of his lack of love. And not only this, He died that man would begin to love like He loves. Turn to Christ, confess your lack of love, and seek to love others through Christ Who will give you strength even when you don’t “feel” like it (Phil. 4:13).
Final prayer
Father, I thank You for Your desire to help me to love like You love. Cleanse my heart and make me like You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.